

Why do you think that racehorse trainers place blinders on horses? These keep the horse focused on what is in front of him, encouraging him to pay attention to the race rather than other distractions, such as crowds. This principle applies to all living things. That means less clutter, less noise, and no other distractions (like music, television, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) It is necessary to be in a calm, clean environment to experience clarity of mind. It picks up on millions of details that do not even register with you consciously. Your mind is constantly absorbing your environment. You look around you and find yourself surrounded by clutter.Įven if you did not consciously acknowledge the clutter around you, it impacted your mind.

There is a chaos in your head that you can not explain. However, you just keep getting distracted. You feel energized, prepared to work, and excited about your task. Imagine you sit down to work but you can not concentrate. Minimalism is the path to counteracting these negatives.Ĭlarity of mind. (Think fire escapes and hygiene issues.) Even mild clutter can impact your mental & spiritual health. Severe clutter can impact your physical health. Why Minimalism?Įxcessive material possessions have enormous negative impacts on our bodies & souls. Over the past year, I have begun to adopt a minimalist lifestyle. It is an injustice to my soul to define myself by material objects. These things can not be held in the hands. The important things in life should exist imprinted on my heart & soul alone. I thought that I needed those things to remember the magic of my journeys, to prove that they had happened, and to justify my existence. I had spent my entire life accumulating things because I thought that my possessions said something about me. And then it hit me, I was tired of all of the stuff - the clothing, jewelry, gadgets, art, collectibles, and all of the other crap that I just didn’t need. I was moving toward the life of my dreams, paying down my debts, and getting closer to financial & spiritual freedom but something wasn’t right. My life was moving in the right direction. Use of the fewest and barest essentials or elements, as in the arts, literature, or design.
